Javea or Xabia ?

A few people have asked why the town is sometimes referred to as Javea, sometimes Xabia.

Its quite simple really, the offical spanish name is Javea and that is what is used internationally too. However, the valencia region has its own language called valenciano, which most locals speak alongside spanish. Xabia is simply Javea in valenciano. In many roadsigns and documents you will see the Xabia & Javea alongside eachother, however by law only the spanish version has to be there … which of course means that patriotic valencians will go out of their way to ensure it says Xabia and only Xabia. This is why you sometimes see official signs painted over with the valenciano version for instance.